The decontamination of nucleic acids from surfaces that are used in the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) technique, and other related nucleic acid amplification techniques, is extremely important. This is because PCR (and related techniques) may amplify extraneous nucleic acids that, for example, remain from a previous amplification. This can lead to false positive results, for example mistyping of a genotype.
In prior art methods of surface decontamination, expensive, difficult to handle solutions have generally been employed as the decontamination agent. In most cases, additional steps which involve cleaning the decontamination reagent residue are also required. In addition, amplicon decontamination solutions and methods previously used in sensitive environments are inconsistent and unreliable. It is not uncommon to test and find persistent contamination after decontaminating using prior art methods and compositions.
This is due to a number of factors. The prior art suggests that many of the commonly available compositions, such as Eliminase, DNA Away™, and bleach, do not consistently and effectively degrade amplifiable nucleic acids. The prior art also suggests that most of the commonly used methods, which involve using one or more cleaning compositions to wet and then wipe contaminated surfaces actually only partially remove the contaminating nucleic acids while spreading or missing the remainder. Thus, there is a need in the industry for an improved decontamination process that is inexpensive, easy to use, and that utilizes user-friendly reagents.